In My Arms
by Ara Goddess of the Broken
Summary: Songfic to the song by Plumb. Protection-centric, follows TLMII with slight emphasis on Melody's upbringing. Better than it sounds, I assure you.


Her daughter was perfect in every way, but if her mother was forced to pick one attribute she adored most, it would be her Melody's precious blue eyes, the wondrous blue depths that seemed to intensify each time they looked out over the ocean, the irony almost too bittersweet for the queen to stand as the wall was built as quickly as it could be, which wasn't near fast enough. Her daughter's innocent smile, especially when the joy and curiosity of seeing her mother's homeland magnified it was enough to drive the former siren over the edge. Over the years, her daughter slowly grew out of that, or so she believed… but she still found the girl watching the ocean, and longing… It was a longing she was all-too-familiar with, and each time she saw it, she had to pull her daughter close to keep herself from breaking down…

_Your baby blues  
So full of wonder  
Your curlicues  
Your contagious smile  
And as I watch  
You start to grow up  
All I can do is hold you tight_

To condemn her daughter to the same separation she'd experienced in reverse was maddening, and was made even more painful by keeping one whole side of her life, her family, and her world from her. Even if it was for her own good…

_Knowing…_

The calm before the storm would sweep over the shore, and in that, three royals would each gather on their balconies, two together and one alone, and they'd savor it. The king and queen savored the storm and the memories of their meeting it brought back, and their daughter would muse on the elements, the magic behind the phenomenon before her, and more importantly, how storms like these affected the oceans below. After a time, the event would arrive, and the loner would join her parents, quivering with the rolling thunder but mesmerized by the lightning flashes and the wind-swept downpours outside. As she grew older still, she no longer sought their comfort for the thunder, but rather for the mood storms always put her parents in. There was a definite air of unease to it, but once one pushed past it, she could feel a warm, a connection the two of them shared with each other and the storm, and the girl wanted to know what it was, though she dared not ask. She would sometimes even walk out on their balcony in the pouring rain while they were so absorbed in the connection she'd been shunned from, and she'd watch the waves crashing mercilessly against the wall. Her parents would always dart out and drag her in the moment the noticed what she'd done, in a panic the girl didn't quite understand, but she nonetheless enjoyed the concern they showed at such times, wrapping their arms securely around her, her mother especially for reasons that were, again, unknown to the unknowing daughter of land and sea.

_Clouds will rage and  
Storms will race in  
But you will be safe in my arms  
Rains will pour down  
Waves will crash all around  
But you will be safe in my arms_

Melody, unable to amuse herself during the summer on the beach as most children were, would take up residence in the royal library, slowly making her way through the legends of old, and among them, of course, the legends concerning mermaids. Oddly, she found most of the books on it hidden in other sections of the library than the fiction, but to her, that only made them that much more of a joy to soak in. Her mother would find her like this, soaking up the legends she herself knew for truth and fiction in various cases. Melody always attempted to find a way to the beach, and the sea beyond, and on an especially blue-skied day when she was 8, she finally did it: she found the loose grate, and having naturally taken to swimming, she began to explore the sea just outside the wall. She even met and befriended a crab. She always entertained her parents notions that she couldn't swim, that she had been unsuccessful in finding a hidden back door in her cage, and she consistently pestered them to let her go sailing, or at least go on beach picnics with her 'friends' (glorified acquaintances, and merely after her for her status and what knowing her could mean later in life). And all parties hoped that someday the truths they all based their lives around could be shattered for the realities as they were.

_Story books  
Are full of fairy-tales  
Of kings and queens  
And the bluest skies  
My heart is torn just in knowing  
You'll someday see  
The truth for lies_

Then at last it came… she'd been humiliated when her bond with her crustacean friend had been revealed at a party, and then she'd taken off like the wind, and fallen for much the same ploy that her mother had.

_When the_

Those three days had been hell for her parents, namely searching in vain for a daughter they wouldn't find until it was far too late anyway. Her mother at least had the pleasure of returning to her home, seeing her old friends and family again, being HER once more, but nothing offset the storm they all could feel coming. All the queen could focus on was finding her daughter, holding her in her arms again and finally telling her the truth in all its glory. Melody hadn't fared much better… well, she was living a dream she'd had for pretty much as long as she could remember, and not even the rain of guilt for what she was doing to keep it could pull her down, nor the tidal waves of her conscience telling her to return what she'd stolen and simply let her time run out. She rode them out with her new friends, and returned to the icy palace that would cement her place down below, as her mother frantically hurried to the same location, hoping she'd get there in time to save her daughter from their mistakes and hold her baby close once again.

_Clouds will rage and  
Storms will race in  
But you will be safe in my arms  
Rains will pour down  
Waves will crash all around  
But you will be safe in my arms_

The reunion, as expected, was shattering, crumbling what was left in her trust as she was given at last the truth, or as much of it as could be crammed in between the deceptions of the bitch she ended up succumbing to, and for what? To be locked in an icy cell and left all alone to drown as her mother had, quite possibly a worse deal, forced to comply with the golden trinket in the hands of the squid who'd made her daughter's life miserable since she was a baby with the threat of her vengeance which had finally been fulfilled… and her lovely daughter was beyond her reach and aide, as little as she could've helped now against either of their demises.

_Castles they might crumble  
Dreams may not come true  
But you are never all alone  
Cause I will always  
Always love you_

Melody was likewise in a downward spiral of hopelessness, hers fueled not by anger or regret or even emotion, for that matter, but rather her lack of oxygen, and her lack of company. She was about to die, and she was alone. Tip may have been on the other side of the ice with Dash, but she was in essence alone… but then came the ray of hope with a heralding crash through the ice.

_Hey I  
Hey I  
Will love_

Her daughter had somehow escaped, managed to climb the spires of the slippery castle, and struggle with the tyrant for the golden key of the kingdom under the raging clouds of darkness, and she'd silenced the malicious storms as she threw that power down to the rightful owner, leaving her to plummet from the peak to the ice below with a scream, to be saved by her friends once again, thankfully. The reign of terror was over, and as the witch and her icy prison fell through her home, destroying the fragile lair as the waves swallowed the remains, Melody felt those loving arms around her once again, and felt the warmth of tears on the top of her head…

_Clouds will rage and  
Storms will race in  
But you will be safe in my arms  
Rains will pour down  
Waves will crash all around  
But you will be safe in my arms_

Turning and embracing her mother whole-heartedly, she allowed herself a smile as she noticed one happy change in her parents… the guilt and unease was gone forever, or at least… until her next screw-up. And with a whole new world for her to see and enjoy, there were bound to be many more to come.

_In my arms…_

* * *

AN: Alright, I know I should've written my next link in the Nobody's Perfect Sognfic Chain over in the Disney section, but I couldn't help it! It just spilled out!! I wanted to make it an AMV, but my video editing lab doesn't like my movies, and I haven't gotten around to converting the second movie yet. BTW, to the fans here who actually are looking forward to Tuesday, private message me what you think of it.

-Ara


End file.
